The present disclosure generally relates to a multi-component masonry block. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a masonry block that includes a pair of opposite facing panels that are joined with transverse non-masonry truss-web members or a truss module to form a composite block having enhanced energy saving properties.
The United States Department of Energy has developed a national energy policy for the purpose of conserving energy, including buildings and housing, in order to preserve our natural energy resources and become less reliant on foreign nations for energy sources. A majority of states have passed laws mandating that new building structures must comply with increased energy efficiency standards. Highly insulated thermal envelope systems are required in order to reduce the energy used to heat and cool the building's interior conditioned space. Many existing wall systems will not meet the new energy efficiency standards now mandated, and others will not meet newer energy efficiency standards planned for the future.
Concrete block are extensively manufactured for use as a building material and are often used to construct single wythe masonry exterior walls for numerous building types and related structures. Conventional masonry blocks manufactured on modern block making machines have two parallel concrete face shells cast simultaneously with interconnecting, lateral, concrete cross-webs. These block units are individually laid to build single wythe masonry walls.
However, a major drawback in typical single wythe concrete block construction is its inability to provide a well-insulated thermal envelope wall, because concrete blocks including concrete cross-webs exhibit high thermal conductivity and rapid heat loss through its composition. The insulation value of a typical single wythe concrete block wall may be marginally improved by filling the cores formed between the face shells and cross-webs with insulation. However, because the high thermally conductive concrete cross-webs penetrate the insulation, the cross-webs facilitate rapid heat loss through the wall by a process commonly referred to as thermal bridging. Thus, walls constructed with conventional single wythe concrete block can only provide a meager building thermal envelope, because they contain numerous concrete cross-webs in their framework.
Adaptations to the typical block structure utilizing conventional manufacturing techniques have been developed, including: reducing the number of concrete cross-webs and/or reducing the cross sectional area of these webs. While these means reduce the overall thermal bridging effect of the cross-webs, they yet render an insufficient product for use in constructing high performance thermal envelopes that demand greater R-values to better conserve on the energy required to heat and cool a building's interior conditioned space. Other concrete block designs have been devised that completely separate the interior and exterior concrete face-shell segments with continuous interconnecting and/or adhered rigid insulation, thus eliminating the thermal bridging effect. These concrete blocks are formed with a middle rigid insulation material and outer concrete portions. The outer face-shells are cast on conventional block making machines and later factory assembled together with the mid-portion insulation component.
These improvements provide an increase in thermal performance; however these block units have limitations associated with manufacturing, handling, and field installation. Further, methods for separating the block face shells by completely eliminating the concrete cross-webs and substituting them with plastic strut members are known. The concrete face shell segments are independently cast on conventional block making machines and later hand-assembled together with the synthetic cross members being joined utilizing various male-female connection schemes with the connections employing a resilient friction fit or adhesive bond to maintain engagement of the assorted components. These adaptations provide means to improving the thermal efficiency of concrete masonry units; however they lack connection strength, do not adequately provide vertical or lateral stability relative to face shell alignment, and require expensive, cumbersome, and time consuming assembly of the multiple component pieces.